Carnarvon Petroleum is doubling down on its appraisal of the Dorado oil and gas discovery on Western Australia’s North West Shelf.
The company discovered the field using the Dorado-1 exploration well in July 2018 and subsequently evaluated it using the Dorado-2 appraisal well.
Its appraisals confirmed that the field contained a major oil, gas and condensate resources across multiple reservoir intervals in June.
An independent review by ERC Equipoise earlier this month found that Dorado contained a 162 million barrel liquids resource — which Carnarvon called substantial in an Australian context and a valuable asset to the company — and a gas volume of 748 billion cubic feet.
Now, Carnarvon has reiterated its seriousness regarding the potential of the nascent discovery by announcing a placement and share purchase plan to raise around $84 million for further appraisal and development.
The company also confirmed it has scheduled a second appraisal well (Dorado-3) for late July to carry out flow testing and confirm sub-surface characteristics and connectivity between reservoirs.
The funds will be used to continue the company’s appraisal of the discovery, by conducting 3D seismic and well costs, in addition to front end engineering design (FEED) studies and further equity for Dorado’s initial development.
Carnarvon’s FEED study is anticipated to commence early next year for completion by the end of 2020.
The money will also be used for “general corporate purposes, working capital requirements and contingencies”, according to Carnarvon.